So, now that I’ve created my werewolf type, I need individuals.

Let’s start with the Pack Alpha. Jeremy Danvers is a thoroughly modern Alpha, a man who leads with his brains, not his fists. Don’t be fooled by the meticulous manners and soft-spoken words, though. When Jeremy speaks, he expects to be obeyed. Still, he’s not much for fighting, so he needs a second-in-command who is.

That’d be Clayton Danvers, Jeremy’s foster son. Bitten by a werewolf as a child, Clay is more wolf than human. The self-described ‘local psychopath,' he defends his Alpha and his Pack with a ferocity so legendary that no outside werewolves (AKA ‘mutts’) have set foot in Pack territory for two decades.

Daniel Santos is one mutt who’s getting a bit tired of Clay’s tyranny. In fact, the former Pack member has been mighty tired of Clay for about thirty years now, dating back to when they were children and Clay usurped Daniel’s position in the Pack’s youngest generation. Now Daniel has a plan for liberating the mutts of the United States, restoring their God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of human flesh.

Is Daniel’s plan good? Well, it must be, if he’s persuaded Karl Marsten to join him. Marsten’s never given the Pack any trouble. Why, just a few months ago, when one of the Pack was passing through Florida, Marsten wined and dined him, then gave him the names of mutts he’d killed in recent range disputes, so the Pack could remove them from their dossiers. Rich, charming, considerate and lethal, that’s Marsten. So what’s he doing with Daniel? What is this grand plan? Well, it involves—but that would be telling, wouldn’t it? If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the book.

Have I forgotten anyone? Oh, right, there’s Philip. Philip is a forty-one-year-old ad exec living with his girlfriend in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto. Is he a werewolf? No. Some homicidal mutt’s breakfast? Nope. A madman intent on uncloaking the werewolves for personal gain? Hardly. He’s just a decent, ordinary guy. Works hard, buys flowers for his girlfriend, takes his mother out for lunch, plays golf on weekends. Doesn’t particularly like horror movies, probably isn’t even too sure what a werewolf is. So what the heck is he doing in this story? Well, see, about that girlfriend . . . she really likes taking moonlit walks, long walks, alone, in the middle of the night.

Last year, Elena Michaels decided she was tired of being the only female werewolf. Tired of running, jumping, chasing, hunting, plotting, killing. Tired of being attacked, kidnapped, and generally annoyed by mutts anxious for a shot with a female of their own species. Tired of telling Clay for the hundred-thousandth time that she is not, and will never be his mate, despite that regrettable (latest) romp in the woods. Most of all, she’s tired of what it’s doing to her . . . or maybe not so much tired as scared. So she’s left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she’s trying to live as a human. So far, everything is great: great boyfriend, great job, great prospects for a normal future. Sure, sometimes things seem a little, well, dull, but this is what she wants. Really. When Jeremy calls to ask for her help, she only agrees because she owes him. Once this is over, she’ll be squared with the Pack and free to live life as a human. Or, at least, that’s the theory.